As this type of the apparatus conventionally used in the formation of a shaping material such as carcass band or the like, there is an apparatus as shown by a schematic side view partly shown in section of FIG. 7, in which a traveling head 52 is arranged on an outer peripheral side of a drum 51 made of a rigid material so as to move forward and rearward in an axial direction of the drum 51, and in the traveling head 52 are arranged a push roll 54 pushing a tire component member supplied into the traveling head 52, for example, a band-shaped member 53 formed by coating plural cords arranged side by side with rubber, onto the peripheral face of the drum and nip rolls 56 acting to supply the band-shaped member 53, respectively, while plural guide rolls 56 guiding the supply of the band-shaped member 53 while controlling the widthwise position thereof and a cutter positioned between two groups of the guide rolls are arranged therein, respectively.
In the affixing of the band-shaped member 53 on the peripheral face of the drum 53 according to such an apparatus, a front end portion of the band-shaped member 53 supplied to a position of the push roll 54 or ahead thereof under an action of the nip rolls 55 is pressed onto the peripheral face of the drum in the vicinity of one end of the drum 51 through the push roll 54, while the band-shaped member 53 is affixed on the peripheral face of the drum in a linear form based on the rearward displacement of the traveling head 52 while being pushed by the push roll 54 as schematically shown in FIG. 8. When the affixing position arrives at a given position in the axial direction, the band-shaped member 53 is cut by the cutter 57 under the stop of the traveling head 52, and then the cut end portion is pressed up to the vicinity of the other end of the drum 51 through the push roll 54 under the continuation of the rearward displacement of the traveling head 52 to conduct the affixing of one cut material 53a thereon.
Thereafter, the drum 51 is turned by a distance over a rotating angle range corresponding to the width of the band-shaped member 53, while a front end portion of the band-shaped member 53 after the cutting through the cutter 57 is supplied through the nip rolls 55 in the same manner as previously mentioned and such a front end portion of the band-shaped member 53 is pressed on the peripheral face of the drum through the push roll 54 under a forward displacement of the traveling head 52 as mentioned above, and subsequently the affixing of next cut material 53a is carried out in the same manner as mentioned above. These operations are successively repeated with the turning movement of the drum 51 to affix the cut materials 53a on the peripheral face of the drum over a full periphery with no space, whereby a shaping material such as a carcass band or the like having a given peripheral length is formed.
Thereafter, the thus formed carcass band shaping material is taken out from the drum and affixed on a carcass band shaping drum not shown over a full periphery to form a carcass band of substantially a cylindrical form as a whole.
In the conventional technique, however, there is a problem that since the nip rolls 55, the cutter 57 and the like are incorporated into the traveling head 52, the weight of the head becomes heavier and a driving motor or the like having a large capacity is required for moving the traveling head 52 forward and rearward at a high speed. Also, slippage is caused between the nip rolls 55 and the band-shaped member 53 when the traveling head 52 is moved forward and rearward at a high speed. When the front end of the band-shaped member 53 is contacted with the guide rolls 56 or the like, the supplying amount of the band-shaped member 53 is changed under the action of the nip rolls 55 for a given time and hence the start end position in the pressing of the band-shaped member 53 is changed in the peripheral direction of the drum 51 under constant forward and rearward strokes of the traveling head 52. Furthermore, according to the conventional technique, the widthwise position of the band-shaped member 53 supplied ahead from the guide rolls 56 or the extending posture of the band-shaped member 53 in the widthwise direction can not be specified sufficiently, so that when the cut materials 53a are partly overlapped with each other in the widthwise direction in the affixing, the scattering of the overlap amount is easily caused, which is a cause of lowering the tire quality. Further, the rearward displacement of the traveling head 52 is required to be temporally stopped in the course of the affixing step for cutting the band-shaped member. Moreover, the supplying operation of the front end portion of the band-shaped member 53 through the start of the affixing step is unavoidable, so that the cycle time becomes undesirably longer.
The invention is to solve the above problems of the conventional technique and to provide an apparatus and a method for affixing a tire component member wherein the capacity of the driving means for the traveling head can be made sufficiently small, and each of start and terminal positions in the affixing of the tire component member on the drum can be located in the peripheral direction of the drum at substantially a constant position in the axial direction thereof and the overlap amount of the tire component member on the drum can be rendered into a constant amount as it is expected, and further the affixing of the tire component member can be carried out in a short cycle time without stopping the movement of the traveling head and without requiring the preliminary supplying operation of the front end portion of the tire component member.